Ashes 2023 | Intrigued to see how Bazball fares against Australian bowling attack, remarks Steve Smith

Australia are dominating the proceedings in the World Test Championship final as India are trailing in the first innings by 318 runs with five wickets down. Earlier, Australia posted a total of 469 in the first innings and Steve Smith played a key role with the knock of 121 runs. The star batter tired out the Indian bowlers by playing 268 deliveries during his stay at the crease and also built a 285-run stand for the fourth wicket with Travis Head. Reflecting on his knock after the end of the day’s play, Smith stated that The Oval is as close as one can get to Australian wickets. 

“It's a nice place to play. I think in terms of English wickets it's probably as close to Australia as you get I suppose. I've enjoyed playing here and it was nice to score a few out here again,” he stated in the press conference after the end of the day’s play. 

After the fixture, Australia will engage with England for the 2023 Ashes series starting on June 16.  The visitors have a strong bowling attack and it would be interesting to see whether English batters will apply their template of playing attacking cricket. Reflecting on his opinion about whether England will stick to the Bazball, Smith stated that he will be intrigued to see how England’s philosophy works against the Australian bowlers. 

“I mean, I think it'd be difficult on this kind of wicket that's up and down and seaming around - it's not easy to defend, let alone come out and swing. So, yeah, I think I said it initially when Bazball started that I'm intrigued to see how it goes against our bowlers. I've said that all along,” he added.

England have won 11 of their 13 Tests since captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum joined forces last year and the team approached the format with an explosive batting style. Although Australia won the last Ashes, England’s batters would be coming up with a very different approach this time around. Sharing his opinion about the Bazball, Smith stated that he has enjoyed watching England bat in an attacking manner but they haven’t been up against the Australian bowling attack yet.

“They've obviously done well against some other attacks, but they haven't come up against us yet. So, we'll see. It's obviously been exciting to watch. I must say I've enjoyed watching the way they've played and the way that I guess they've turned things around in the last 12 months or so, but it's yeah we'll wait and see how it comes off against us,” he concluded.